Secret Scorches
by inkelf
Summary: Adalina Callisto has never known love. Only hate. What will she feel to Sirius Black? Maybe both? Moving from California, she is whisked away to Hogwarts from a rough life, the scorch marks in her past forever damaging her present...
1. Prologue

**SUMMARY- Adalina Callisto has never known love. Only hate. What will she feel to Sirius Black? Maybe both? Moving from California, Adalina is whisked away to Hogwarts for a better life. Hopefully. But even a midst of friends and Hogwarts reliability can't eliminate the scorch marks left in her past, forever damaging her present...**

Hey people!

This is my first story on and I'm pretty excited about it... woot! I hope you have fun reading it like I did writing it! So, I'm Trinity and I'm new -waves- so... hi. This is a story about a girl looking for the way out in a place she'll never belong in... whilst battling the everyday things that torment us today. There'll be quirks and humor along the way. I can't wait!

**Of course, I'm not Jo Rowling. I'm not... and I never will be, so the characters she creates are strictly hers, though we all delight in building our own stories off of her foundation. However, the characters and settings and emotions _I _made are all mine. **

So, with that said, shall we carry on? lol!

* * *

1. An Introduction to… Me

Wait.

Seriously, are you actually interested in _me_? _I'm_ the one you want to get to know? No way…

No one's ever been interested in me before. Not my family, not my friends -not that I have any- or anyone else for that matter. And you wouldn't be either. Best be on your way now. Well, go on, hop to it already…

Well I guess if you have to know…

I don't believe in love.

I've never felt a connection with anyone before, so much that, in all circumstances, you would do just about anything for them. No, not ever.

No one's ever held me in their arms, cooed in my ear that everything would be alright, and tell me of a time, if ever in its smallest existence, that the world wasn't so screwed up.

Love is for idiots… my personal philosophy.

My idiot parents we're in love. That is, until my idiot mother passed away in a car accident nine Novembers ago. Her name was Mione… and she was ruthless. Caught up in a wild frenzy of speed and alcohol, my mother smashed headlong into a fourteen wheeler… and… the rest is history.

If only I hadn't been in the passenger seat when it happened.

Idiot father wasted no time in getting remarried to idiot stepmother. Daniel and Patricia. Sickening combination isn't it? I _loath_ that woman. And said idiot father is oblivious to her evil tendrils, ready to smother and choke you to death.

It's scientifically proven that holding a monster grudge on someone is physically unhealthy. Bottling up your emotions and using them to resort to extreme measures is not something you should attempt at home.

But I seemed to be an exception to all of this.

It was definitely not a problem for me to be holed up wishing to have a very large bat to wordlessly tell that woman what I thought about her…

And her disgusting excuse for a daughter is even worse.

_She_ makes me wish I had a very large _explosive tank_ to wordlessly tell her what I thought about her… hehehe…

Natalie is my stepsister.

What would be the best, non-verbally abusive way to describe her? She was… she was a child prodigy. She was everything.

And… I just _wasn't_.

Always clad in top-of-the-line-quality clothing, she has taken it upon herself to inflict as much pain into my life as possible.

She's evil.

Horrible.

If you looked up loathsome in a dictionary, there would be her picture, with her dark blonde curls plastered to her face with those evil, _loathsome_ green eyes. Everyone else loves Nat. Her appearance makes her impossible to be hated. If you told someone about her disgusting nature, one would say _"Darling Natalie! I think not!"_

She was a freggin' knockout… and that just gave me another reason to hate her.

I knew she meant problems for me the very moment I saw her: A smug smile on her eight-year-old face as she marched up our rose-lined front path holding Patricia's hand and a pink rainbow My Little Pony in the other.

God.

That rainbow Pony was the object of my affection for so long. It's the very one that I always wanted but was never allowed to have. I loved brushing the long wavy pink hair, even though Natalie had never let me touch it.

And…

And that's where it all began. What, you might ask? Do you really want to know?

…

My father hit me, _hit me_, when he found out about all those times I played with that plastic pony without asking permission with Natalie first.

And slap across my face was all it was.

But… It was so much more, to me. To my seven-year-old self.

See, my dad used to love the life out of me. We were best friends. But I guess it was a jolt for him when this Natalie, this _child prodigy_, came stampeding in as a spitting image of everything I wasn't.

And, over time, she became the favorite. Then, I was hit more often, for littler things, like not finishing my dinner or laughing at Natalie's ridiculous hairdo's.

There have been few changes since then, actually. The roses are all dead. The three hundred and six My Little Pony set was boxed up and stored long ago, although at the ripe old age of ten, I snuck in and stole that rainbow Pony out of it's box, declaring it mine.

And I felt powerful.

Stronger.

_Better_.

From the moment I snuck that Pony back into my room, appalled at what I had done, I knew I wasn't the same anymore.

I was _not_ going to take anymore of their crap. I was differently defiant than ever before. And it felt… _great_.

Nothing could touch me now. No one could hurt me. I carefully constructed a shell of hatred and resentfulness that shielded me from any blow I might ever receive.

I just wasn't the same.

And though nine years have passed, the concept was still the very same. Natalie is still a spoiled brat, Daniel and Patricia are still favoring her above all, and…

And I found out that I'm a witch.

No, seriously.

I _am_, and, unfortunately, Natalie is too.

We both go to Middleston Academy for Privileged Witches and Wizards. For those of you who don't know, that's in Santa Barbara, California.

Natalie, being the falsely sweet outgoing person she is, made friends fast. _Groupies_, more like. _I_ didn't care about being popular though. In fact, the very thought disgusted me. Having people throw themselves at you was completely pointless and… laughable.

Those are the kind of people I love to prank and take out my anger on. They're such _easy_ targets, really. Ever since my first taste of trouble, stealing that Pony, I couldn't get enough of it.

I _loved_ it.

Oh wait. Never mind. I couldn't love, remember? Love is for Idiots? Hello, my philosophy?

Hmph.

So anyways, while Natalie struts around the school, laughing at me and sniping at me, I prank her and laugh at her back, which probably isn't the smartest thing to do, seeing as I have to then avoid blows from Daniel to pay for it.

At least I had a companion. _Him_.

Him, as in Austin Sortly. He's a friend.

_Friend_. It was a foreign word to me. But Austin was a great guy. He didn't care that I was a loner, or that I had mysterious cuts and bruises every so often. We talked. And we laughed. And we could be destructive together. We were geeks. And it was great.

We weren't bosom buddies or anything, we just… hung out. Sometimes I wonder if he even liked me all that much. But I guess you could call someone you're not forced to spend time with, but do anyway a friend, right? What is the definition of _friend_ anyways?

Austin has pale, wavy hair and dark green eyes.

And you know what else?

I think it's hilarious that Natalie has a bit of a crush on him. Austin refuses to believe it, but it's _soo_ obvious. The way she flips out that hair of hers whenever he walks by, or starts giggling loudly at one of his infamous dumb jokes.

There was only one thing I was worried about. Natalie gets what Natalie wants. Oh, yes. That's how it worked.

But she's _not_ taking Austin!

And as for me, I'm the detested one… the child who shouldn't have been born into this world. I never thought there was anything particularly special about me.

Well actually, there's one single thing I like about myself. My name.

Adalina Callisto.

Well sort of. At least it's better than, let's say, Gergina. Or Coltia. That's what Daniel and Patricia -gag me- want to name their first child. Sometimes Natalie makes fun of me because of my name ("It's _weird_!") and its meaning. She has her mother's name, Anderson. Even Daniel switched to match Patricia's name… and I stubbornly refused.

Callisto means "most lovely." I can't think of a worse last name for me. See, I _wasn't most lovely_. Something Natalie has been sweet enough to mention numerous times.

Unlike her darkish hair and green eyes, I had pale blonde hair. It was as dim as the sun on a cloudy day, and… frizzy? Yes, that'd be a nice way of putting it. Long and frizzy, pale blonde hair. And my eyes! Ugg! They were pale too! I'd like to think of them as gray, but no. I'd like a lot of things I can't have. My eyes were blue. Faintly and disturbingly. _And _I'm tall. 5' 6." As if there wasn't enough wrong with the world already.

My parents, before one died and the other became abusive, called me Sunshine Baby.

Now that's Natalie.

And I'm just… that girl who lives upstairs.

But surprisingly, it gets better.

I'm leaving on a 747, first thing tomorrow morning. Where? To London… or more specifically, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am going as far away as possible from them all.

No longer do I have to go to that dreadful school. Daniel and Patricia -barf- insist on moving to London. Yes that's right. A looooooonng way from here. Daniel is a contractor, a plain, muggle contractor, and he's being transferred.

It's surprising how calm he was when he found out that his wife and child prodigy and girl-who-lives-upstairs were all of magic essence. And it's also surprising that all four of us are moving to the other side of the world to fit the likes of this muggle man.

And I just wish that they would stay here.

Then _I_ could leave. The world is an unfair place. It has been, and it always will be. Or maybe it's just me. But I can still pray for the best.

So here is my story.

* * *

Soo... like it? Hate it? Tell me what you're thinking! 

I already have the next update typed out and almost ready for posting, I'll just need to edit it a bit. It should definitely be up within the next week. Definitely. I'm going away for a few days, but when I'll get back, there'll be a post waiting. SO...

Review? Pretty please? Hah. There's a little clicky review-ish button down there with your name on it!

Thanks!

Trin


	2. All My Yesterdays

**Hey Everyone! Second post! Woot! I guess you're all waiting to see how this thing goes...? Well, maybe not. But if you are, here it is... OH! **

**ghillikitten- **Yay, you're my first review on this site! lol, thanks! You're my new best friend...!

**Okie. Here we go...**

**:-------:**

**2. All My Yesterdays**

Sometimes I cry for no reason. Or sometimes it's because I have a messed up life and family, or maybe it's because no one can understand why I'm this way. Bitter and stubborn, that is.

Crying was a way to let free the evils of everyday life, letting them wash away as easily as mineral soap off your hands. I hated to cry though. I hated the tight feeling you get in the back of your throat. I hated how your nose always runs. But most of all, I hated how I was even _capable_ of tears.

The very idea that people allow salt to leak out oftheir eyes in times of emotional upheaval was absurd… and _weak_.

That's it then, right? That sums it all up… I was weak.

But as I sit here, watching the little spit of land –_my_ little spit of land- disappear against the big blue mess that was the Pacific, I had a very good reason indeed.

For one thing, I was forced to sit next to Natalie, who at this moment was busying herself with the flight attendant, who was at least twice her age. She blinked and grinned as he handed her an iced tea with a mint leaf on a little square napkin. "Thank you, _Mike_," she smiled, reading the name tag off of his blue uniform and taking a sip, sitting back in bliss. How sickening can you _get_?

For a second thing, Daniel and Patricia, who were occupying seats "F" and "G" of the first class section, were going over children's names from a book picked up at the airport trinket shop that very morning. And to make matters worse, they were sitting right across from me. Each name was getting increasingly horrid in nature as Patricia ran a silver and blood red talon down the list.

"How about Noltina as a name for a girl?" She oozed, grinning through five coats of tacky-looking bronzer smeared on her face.

I watched in horror as my father smiled in reply, peering down at the name she had pointed out, and taking his wife's hand while reaching for his cocktail. Ten minutes into the flight and _this_ is what happens?

"Don't be rude," a nasty someone hissed in my ear. I spun around to find Natalie crossing her arms and the flight attendant man –what was his name? Moe? Martin?- raising an eyebrow in question.

"What?" I asked, stupidly.

Mike cleared his throat. "Er, what can I get for you missy?" He spoke in a southern drawl.

I grunted and shrugged, turning back to the window. Honestly? I didn't care about being rude. I didn't care about much of anything, actually.

Natalie frowned and Mike looked confused.

"Don't be rude!" She hissed again "Tell the nice man what you want."

I did nothing.

"Why don't you come back when my _sister_ has some time to think, Mike?" She said flashing a smile to him, and blowing a lock of hair from her eyes. What a ditz.

"Rito." Mike departed, tugging his cart of beverages behind him.

"You really are a nasty little thing aren't you?" My _sister_ whispered, flipping her hair over the headrest. "When he comes back, I want you to apologize, okay Lina?"

"Don't call me that. Only my friends can call me that. And you certainly don't fit into that particular category," I said nastily, flipping through a magazine from the table in front of me.

She chuckled. "Oh _yes_, I'm sure they do. If, that is, you had any friends." My blood boiled.

"Say that again," I sneered.

"I have trouble believing that anyone would want to be friends with you. You're always getting into fights at school. It's an embarrassment to this family that you're in the principal's office every other week," she said smoothly, pulling a hair off her skirt.

"I have _friends_, you little bit of pond scum. What about Austin, hmm? Do you know him?" An evil, hysterical smile came over my features. "Oh, _yes_. I'm sure you know him. _Wonderful _Austin. _Fantastic_ Austin. Bright, funny, _charming_ Austin. Does it ring a bell, Nat? Even the slightest inkling of who I'm speaking of?"

I was satisfied with the sickly, orange-y color that her face turned, rather like a dying, confused persimmon.

Natalie quickly overcame her embarrassment and shot back a response. "I have no idea who you're talking about. But apparently, someone has an infatuation with this person," she sneered. How pathetic.

"Don't lie. You know him," I retorted in a satisfied voice. "Not that my best friend would ever talk to you anyways. He and I are too busy laughing at your _fakeness_, watching you wallow in your pathetic _abilities_."

Natalie looked like a teakettle nearing eruption.

"Don't talk to me that way, you _lowlife_," she hissed. But I wasn't scared of her. This was just a typical, sisterly conversation we were having, which included some carefully placed insults.

"I'm fake? Well I'm sure we don't have to mention you, then. You're so fake, you don't even see how you and Austin are drifting apart, because you've convinced yourself that he'll _always_ be there. You just let yourself believe what you want to believe. You're an embarrassment to everyone."

Ouch. Austin and I weren't _drifting_ apart…! Where the hell had that come from?

"How dare you talk about me that way?" I said acidly "He and I are better friends than all of your little cronies put together! And I won't be much of an embarrassment anymore. I'm getting as far away as possible from people like _you_."

I wanted to yell to the pilot for someone to take these people away from me forever, but that wasn't really an option now.

"The first thing I'm going to do when we get to London, is push you off one of those triple-decker busses. Mom will help me, I'm sure of it," she sipped her drink in contentment.

I snorted. "First of all, they're double-decker busses retard, and you wouldn't even be able to balance on one yourself. Secondly, shut up, I'm getting a headache."

A mussel in her jaw twitched as she set down her glass, crunching loudly on an ice cube. She sighed. "I know we haven't exactly been friends," -I laughed rudely- "but we're just going to have to deal. Especially if we're going to the same school and-"

I froze. What was that last part?

"Newsflash, no you're not! I'm going, and you're just coming along for the ride!" I yelled a bit too loudly, so that the old guy in back of me turned in his seat and glared, adjusting his beeping hearing aid.

Only now did Daniel and Patricia look up. Patricia smiled, giving off a radiance of gruesomeness. "Adalina _dear_, please keep it down. Do you want to get us thrown out?"

"Oh _yeah_, at thirty thousand feet that's really going to be a possibility." I rolled my eyes dramatically.

She looked like she had been slapped. My dad stood up, draining the last of his drink. "Can I have a word with you Lina? In private?" There was fire in his voice and eyes. Oh, god. I know what's coming… Gulping, I stood and followed him to the front of the plane, in the section where appetizers were being prepared, closed off from the public eye. My face grew hot as heads turned in my wake.

But I wouldn't let this man scare me. I would shield my fear, like every other time…

The section was empty except for one lady in a lilac uniform, placing parsley on a tray for some unfortunate person. She smiled and moved out with a tray of shrimp balanced on her head, a stack of napkins under her arm.

The roaring of the plane was nothing compared to the buzzing of anticipation and worry in my head.

Pincher-like hands gripped my wrist, backing me up to a lavatory. I could feel his breath on my face and I was suddenly reminded of a day so very long ago… with a similar scenario going on.

---------------

"_Daddy… daddy _don't_… I didn't! I didn't d-do anything!" _

_A small girl with pale hair and an even paler face with terrified eyes was backed against the wall, struggling to free her wrist that was gripped in a circulation-stopping grasp. _

"_Have you been stealing Natalie's things? WELL! _Have you!" _Daniel roared, startling her so much, the girl let out a small squeak of fright. "God damnit, Lina! ANSWER ME! _Have _you been stealing_ _Natalie's things!"_

_The small girl thrashed around wildly, searching for an escape route, and her tiny hands trying and failing to pull this grown man off her. Another little girl was standing in the background, incased in her mother's arms. _

_The woman was sneering, and so was the little girl, who jabbed a pink Pony at Lina in an accusatory way._

"_She done it! She done it, daddy! I _saw_ her… Lina took it- HA!" Screamed the girl from her mother's grasp, cradling her Pony protectively, her green eyes narrowed in a malicious way. _

"_N-no! Don't listen to her! _Believe _me d-daddy…" The little girl trailed off with a screech of pain as the man slapped her across the face. _

"_DON'T LIE!" He bellowed and the pale girl shrunk back withering and crying with only one thought in her head: She had just lost her very best friend. _

_---------------_

I was jerked back to the present when my head collided painfully with the bathroom door… I hoped someone wasn't in there right now.

"Never, _never_ say anything like that again, you hear me? Never." I was seriously getting dizzy. I froze, not knowing what to do or say. "Now I want you to promise me you'll treat Patricia with the respect she deserves, even from someone like you." He grimaced.

"No way," I gasped, and with an almighty tug, my deprived arm came loose. I took a step foreword… I wasn't afraid…

"She _doesn't_ deserve it… anything. And neither do you. So go ahead, _hit me_, Daniel. _Hurt_ me, god knows it won't be the first time…"

He paused, swelling like an angry pufferfish, then drew back one hand, the hand that had been on my wrist, and brought it down sharply on my collarbone. I bit my lip to stop the pain. Even though I was used to this, he hadn't done it in awhile. My eyes were squeezed shut.

Seemingly satisfied, my father left me there, stinging from a verbal _and_ physical attack that many years ago, I wouldn't have believed would ever happen to me.

I walked in shame back to my seat just as the announcer declared some loser movie. People pulled their shades down, but I kept mine open. At least I could see the last of the ocean, my home.

Natalie twisted to face me, smirking. "Wanna bet?" She whispered, pulling out a yellowing piece of paper with swirled green handwriting. I gulped, the saliva in my mouth all gone. "Yes. I'm going to Hogwarts too little sister. So, here's something for you to ponder over; get over yourself you little brat, because I'm not leaving."

With a satisfied half-smile, the person I hated most sneered once more before plugging in her ear phones, tuning out any response I might have had if I wasn't so miserable.

I thought I was going to explode.

There was nowhere to turn. Nowhere to run. I was zooming away from everything I loved, and yet, everything I hated was coming with me. Burying my head in the provided blanket from under the seat, tears came at last.

There was just nowhere to _go_! No freaking place to go.

My eyes always turn darker when I'm sad. But now, I'm sure they were black. This new life was going to be even worse than my old one. Natalie would make sure of that. Who did I have in this world? No one. I had no one. Well, that's not entirely true. I had the company of one very large bruise blooming on my skin.

And _no_- I _don't_ want peanuts with that.

Mike was back, holding out an offering of salty goodness that I had no intention of accepting. This was going to be a long flight.

:-------:

"You just flooed here I assume?"

An elderly voice boomed across the room. I opened my eyes and stepped out of the fireplace, brushing soot off my jacket.

It was a darkened room, lit with only essence candles from chains. A long wooden bar stretched out across one length of the room, where sat many high-back stools. Dozens of round tables were squeezed throughout the place, and tapestries hung on the barren walls. A small, musty man scampered out from behind the bar.

"Floo powder?" He simply asked, continuing to rub a glass tumbler with an old rag.

My father stepped out after me and nodded, shrugging off his coat. "Yes, we're the reservation Anderson?" He said holding out a hand.

Musty Man took it eagerly. "Welcome to the Leaky Caldron. I'm the owner, Tom. Yes, yes, we have three rooms for you this evening." He set down his glass on the nearest table and ran to get some papers in a side office.

"Well," Daniel asked beaming at Patricia "what do you think?"

She threw her bag down on the floor and ran a finger along a cabinet. "Let's be glad it's only a night," she grimaced.

"I think it's cute," Natalie flounced up, pulling her hair over one shoulder. I snorted. Kittens were cute. The guy who ran the local surf shack back in Santa Barbara was cute. But an old, dark pub in the heart of London with candles hanging from chains certainly did not _completely_ fulfill the definition. It rather looked like something from a horror movie.

I also put my bag down and sunk into the nearest couch, fiddling with a peridot ring my mom gave me before she died. It had my name in it and everything.

"You get your own room," someone whispered in my ear. My neck creaked as I swung around to face him. Him, my father.

"That's nice," I bitterly replied.

"It is nice. But it's only because your sister wanted her own room. We already bought your things for school awhile ago. They're in your room." Obviously this guy was intent on trying a conversation, as if nothing had happened.

So, naturally, I didn't say anything.

"Term is first thing tomorrow morning," he said sitting next to me. I scooted over.

"I noticed that when my letter of acceptance arrived weeks ago." My head was starting to hurt and the jet lag was kicking in.

"You're coming home for Christmas and Easter break, and by then your mother and I will have found a place to live," Daniel said fiddling with his Rolex.

I was silent for a moment. Then… "There is no mother, Daniel. She's dead."

Daniel leaned back and gazed at me. It was almost… almost the way he used to look at me when I was just a little kid, and we both ran yelling down the beach, lost in our insanity. Then he'd pick me up and toss me over his shoulder. When dad and I finally came home, mom would scold us for being late, wrapped in seaweed and covered in sand.

I refused to let the memory bring tears to my eyes.

"I remember when we gave you that." I looked down to see him pointing to my ring. "It was your fifth birthday. You remember? It was so big on you, you had to wear it on a chain." He frowned. "Funny. Did you just put it on?"

I felt like slapping him. "I've had it on since I was nine, Daniel. I never take it off," I said quietly.

"Oh. I guess I never noticed it before." _Thank you Mr. Obvious_. Without another word he stood up and hustled over to Tom, who was waiting by the bar with three rusty keys and a stack of papers.

It's not that you never noticed _it_ before, dad, it's that you never noticed _me_.

"Lina, get over here. We're going up now," Natalie called, waving her manicured hands at me from beside her mother. Three little guys in badges rushed up, seized the baggage, and began hauling it up a narrow staircase at the far end of the room.

Daniel followed them, and tossed me one of the rusty keys he had been holding, before going up the stairs too. I glanced at my key. _Room 12_.

"Don't be too long," Daniel called, before he too disappeared from view, banging his way up the stairs.

I sunk into a couch, twisting my ring and thinking. The way I saw it, there were three possible options: One, go to school and try to avoid Natalie as much as possible. _No_. Two, get a shrink. _The last one didn't work out so well_… And three, grow up hating life and become an old lady, screaming at kids who came within a mile radius of my lawn and have dozens of cats. _Promising_.

There was no way I was going to get anything done sitting in a nearly empty room feeling sorry for myself and reminiscing. Besides, I was tired and grumpy. Not a really good combination. Yawning, I got up and reached for my bag.

No sooner was I halfway up the stairs –candles magically flicking off behind me- when a… a someone, no, a _boy_, ran headfirst into me when he was flying down the stairs. He seemed surprised, and then he took a look at me.

He had messy, dark brown hair that stood up in the back, and his hazel eyes glittered with mischief behind a pair of round glasses. "Padfoot, this isn't Evans you git!"

Another boy at the top of the stairs grinned, swaggering down to where I was pushed to the floor, but stopped dead when he saw me. His eyes were stormy and deep gray, half hidden by longish black bangs falling into his face. He had an arrogant confidence about him, as defined by his indifferent posture. But he was _gorgeous_.

I sat amongst the dust and webs down there on the floor, unable to speak for myself for a moment. He was staring at me and I was staring at him.

Don't you think, when a person first meets someone, the first reaction is to introduce yourself and say something? It's a _common_ courtesy. Or, in my case, if this person were pushed to the ground from a friend blasting down the stairway at lightning speed, wouldn't you offer them a hand up?

But this boy, whatever his name was, obviously wasn't aware of this very important rule. In fact, Mr. Gray Eyes just stood there like an overgrown goldfish-out-of-the-water, making noiseless sounds until he contained himself and laughed. At _me_.

And well, I had to stand up by myself; looking rather idiotic, and brush dust off my jacket. The _nerve_. It was now that both guys stood next to each other and exchanged amused glances.

"No, you're right Prongs, this one definitely isn't Evans," the one who didn't offer me a hand said.

"So, newbie? I thought so. What did you say your name was again?" This bed-head boy said. And that is what I'm going to call him now. It's the price you pay for messy hair.

So, infuriated as I was, and just about to open my mouth and tell these stupid guys not to mess with me, I heard another angry voice catcalling down the stairwell.

With hands balled into fists and steam curling out of her fire truck red hair, a very pretty girl that looked as though she was my age came marching down in fury that very moment.

"_Potter_," –she spat the name- "I knew it would be you behind this. I just _knew_ it."

Bed Head's hand flew to his hair, and he ruffled it in a way that made both of us roll our eyes: mine blue, hers a shocking apple green. "Don't know what you're talking about Evans."

The girl seethed. "You know _very well _what I'm bloody talking about Potter. First it's dungbombs, then fireworks, now _this_. Knocking people down in the middle of the night and scaring the life out of this poor girl, do you honestly think it's going to boost your reputation? Because it's not. And Black, you're absolutely no better."

_Black_, who was leaning on the banister biting his nails lazily, jerked awake. "See here Evans, it's not our fault that this girl was stumbling around down here-"

"Excuse me!" I ignored the hand the pretty girl had offered me and leapt up. "_You _were the one who knocked into me."

This one named James recovered quickest. "Ah yes, and for that I apologize. But you can't be so arrogant as to not accept some of the blame as your own," he said smoothly.

"Arrogant?" Evans said directing a finger at his chest and poking him several times. "You would know arrogant wouldn't you Potter?"

He seemed shocked. "Me! Don't be ridiculous. That was just uncalled f-"

"I don't think so. It was very called for. It would be wonderful if someone could penetrate that thick head of yours, and I would love to be the one to do it." James looked deeply flattered by this. "And don't look at me like that. Did you even bother to ask if your victim was ok with you knocking into her?" Evans asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"She's _fine_ Lily-"

"How could you possibly know if you didn't ask her? And _don't_. Call. Me. Lily," Lily growled.

"Oh so we're back on last name basis are we?" He looked faintly disappointed.

"We were never _on_ first name basis, stupid," she yelled, making the candles flicker.

I really didn't want to hear any more of this pointless conversation, so I turned to pick up my bag. Black turned to me. "Why are you even here?"

"I'm staying here," I said slowly, as if talking to a three year old. He leaned against the rail, watching me.

"I got that part down. I meant _why_."

"I have to catch an early train tomorrow," I said dully, swinging my bag over my shoulder and fixing one of the cuffs on my jacket.

"The Hogwarts Express, per chance?" He grinned pompously, shaking the hair out of his eyes. He looked like a dog, just then.

"Yes," I answered slowly. I didn't want to let him know too much. I noticed I had a small cut above my left eyebrow. It was bleeding.

"And you're new from…" Black cued me in with his hands, allowing me to finish the sentence for him, and obviously unaware of my injury.

"California. And it's really none of your business." I was starting to get annoyed with this guy. He looked very full of himself, and he kept doing this stupid, lopsided grin, which really was making me angry. Frustrated and tired, I tucked a strand of my long, pale hair behind my ear, and saw his eyes follow it. Then it hit me. Actually it crashed into me.

This boy, Black, was just another shallow, arrogant, player that I had to live with every day back at Middleston. The kind of guy that I was sure had a bedpost full of notches for every girl he had gone out with or something. Sure, I didn't even _know_ him, but… there are some things in life that you know to be true.

There was only one boy in the world that I was remotely fond of. And he _wasn't_ freaking drifting away from me!

"Well, Miss, may I have the honor of taking your things upstairs?" Black asked, pairing his words with another dumb grin. What did I tell you?

"No," I said bluntly and he seemed extremely surprised. Black took a step back and gaped for a minute, looking at me as though he didn't believe his eyes.

I was contented. But whatever I was going to do next was put on hold by a loud, and very bossy voice wafting down the stairs.

"Lina! What on earth…" Natalie trailed off, as she surveyed the scene under her nose. There was a toothbrush dangling from her lip. "Oh! Hi there." Her voice suddenly became more girly and annoying as she swung her curls to the other shoulder.

Here we go…

I hated these kinds of things. Turning from the sappy, sucky scene materializing under my eyes, and with my bag tucked under my arm, I marched past the lot of them, a drip of blood running down my nose. I think the Lily girl saw it.

The two boys were watching Natalie doing whatever she was doing -probably with that stupid grin- and without a final word of closing, I yanked my key out and burst into room twelve.

My room was loud. It was roomy and warm, but loud: The windows rattled with every passing muggle train, the ceiling creaked with every movement from the upper floors, rain was pelting down on the spun glass windows and the fire hissed when drops of water that had squeezed through the cracks in the walls fell into it.

Several large packages and books were thrown on top of a ripped, old leather armchair by the fire. I noticed a heating pan lying between the maroon sheets of the bed. A thick wool rug was under my feet and there was a large portrait of Tom over my wooden dresser.

I kicked off my shoes and threw my bag on the bed, making my way to the fire and removing the pile of junk from on top of it. I already had a wand, but these things looked like basics to Hogwarts students: An all black uniform, a copper caldron, and a few potions ingredients as well.

I ran my hand over the cover of a thick green book. _Arithmancy for the Advanced_. I flipped through some complicated number charts. If there was one thing I was good at, it was math and numbers. Itrequired a lot of thought, which was something I was constantly doing. Thinking and thinking. Of how to reason, how to talk, how to solve my own problems.

It was my way to escape.

There was a knock at the door.

Geez. Not one, freaking minute to myself.

"Come in," I called grudgingly. It was Lily, and she wasn't alone. She had brought a tray of apple tea and a hot washcloth.

"Hi," she said brightly, stepping in and closing the door behind her. "I wanted to make sure you're okay."

I watched as she set her tray down and sat across from me. She smiled again, and seemed genuinely concerned.

"That's quite a bump there." She indicated to the cut on my forehead. I rubbed it quickly.

"Oh, it's nothing. Nothing, I'm fine…"

"No, here. Let me." Lily took the hot washcloth and began dabbing at my forehead. It was soaked with some kind of medicine. I flinched and she laughed. It was a pretty sound.

"Antinfectionite potion. It'll heal that… here." She handed me the washcloth. "Just hold that there, that's it, and it should be all gone by morning. Tea?"

"Thank you, er…" I stumbled on my sentence as she handed me a cup.

"Lily," Lily said. "You might not have caught my name in the hubbub down there. Don't worry about them. We've had it in for each other for years now. I don't want you to be forced into the fray. Oh my gosh! I completely forgot to ask your name." She smiled.

"It's Adalina. And I guess you _really_ hate each other, huh?" That was the most obvious thing to say. Lily looked bitter.

"Yeah, we do, for years now. Can I call you Lina?" I was silent for a second. "That's okay," Lily said quickly. "What year are _you_ in by the way?"

"I'm new, but I'm going into eleventh grade. Oh, er, I guess it would be sixth year here." I sipped my cup. A rush of heat singed my throat all the way down.

"Really?" Lily's eyes lit up. "Me too! That's really exciting. Where are you from?"

"California." It seemed so far away already. I was silent for a moment, and so was Lily. In the next room, Daniel could be heard demanding another cocktail and banging around.

"People sure are inconsiderate to others, aren't they?" Lily nodded to the wall, in which my father was behind, banging and swearing. Blood rushed to my cheeks and I inclined my head.

"Well, if you need anything…" She stood awkwardly. I jumped up too and walked her to the door. "Don't wait to ask. I can wake you up bright and early in the morning, if you like."

I was sure Natalie would come parading in with the peanut gallery at six, so this was hardly necessary. I tried to smile. "Thanks Lily."

She stood there for a moment as though she wanted to say something more, but I had closed the door.

Lily was slightly surprised. She wasn't used to doors closing in her face. She really truly thought she and Adalina could be friends. It _was_ going to be a challenge, no doubt about it. But Lily Evans liked challenges.

…

I waited there in silence. Or, as silent as a train-rattling, rain-pounding, ceiling-creaking place could be.

There were these two boys. Two rude and arrogant boys, that just happened to be going to my school. Or at least I think they are. I'm not sure though. That one with the weird hair –Bed Head- he was something awful. But the black haired guy… I could tell he meant trouble.

A lot of trouble. _Great_. Well, if they messed with me, I could always send a hex their way. I was capable of being very nasty toward people I didn't like. It really wasn't that difficult.

Back in Santa Barbara, Austin and I did stuff that earned us more detentions than all the other kids in the school put together. I felt a pang inside me at the very thought of Austin. Geez, I missed him. As much as I hated to admit it, I missed him.

The very thought that we would ever drift apart… _terrified_ me. Because, who else would I have?

Natalie was just trying to scare me. Like that would ever happen. But she _had_ hit me where it hurt most, mentioning him and me like that. But she was probably just trying to steal him away…

I settled on that as an excuse.

I grabbed my bag from on the bed and pulled out an old Arithmancy book of mine from Middleston. Between two of the old pages was a faded wizard photograph of a boy and a girl, both with pale blonde hair.

I stared at my photographic self.

I was laughing and tugging on the boy's arm, trying to grab a dripping ice-cream cone from him. We were both sitting on an empty beach, the sun making the waves in the background glitter. Austin was teasing me, his deep green eyes alive with laughter.

I wish I were with him now. It brought back so many memories just to look at him.

---------------

_I was sitting alone on an empty beach, dangling my swollen feet in the water. _

_God, it hurt like hell. I had run all the way here from Daniel and Patricia's house, just narrowly escaping a flying Bacardi bottle aimed at my head. I had managed to get out with only a few cuts. _

_It was raining today. The beach was shifting in the wind and sleet, blowing apart the birthday cake I had constructed for myself out of sand. __But I wouldn't expect anyone to remember it was my birthday, or to acknowledge the fact I had been on the planet exactly twelve years. _

_It was just another day to survive… Another day to curl up under my bed and hide, wishing to be someone else. Another day to-_

"_Hello." _

_I looked up, startled, and leapt to my feet, flinging wet sand everywhere. "Oops… sorry," I stammered to the person, embarrassed. _

_It was a boy, looking as if he were my age. His hair was like mine, wavy and light… But his eyes were… _beautiful._A dark, enchanting green. He was laughing, shaking sand out of his eyes. _

"_What are you doing here, Lina?" He asked, plopping down next to me. _

_I was surprised. How did he know me? I certainly didn't know _him_. You'd think I'd remember eyes like those… _

"_Who are you?" I asked. "How do you know me?"_

_The boy grinned, shaking his head. "I'm Austin. Austin Sortly. You don't remember me? I was in your third grade class before Middleston?" __And suddenly, something clicked. I remembered him… I had borrowed a quill from him once, being, as usual, unprepared for a test. _

"_OH!" I slapped my forehead in an apologetic manner, and Austin grinned. "Of course! Mrs. Pantanakis, scary lady with the shoulder pads and frog spawn air freshener?" _

_He laughed… hard. And that got me going too. God! It felt so good to laugh! _

"_The very same," Austin choked out. "Glad you remembered. And that was me actually. With the frog spawn, I mean." _

"_Well, I congratulate you on your cunning abilities. What are you doing here anyways?" I flicked a seashell off my toe. _

"_I come here to think… sometimes." He glanced down at my cake, which was looking very worse for wear. _

_He cocked an eyebrow and I nodded. "It looked better before, I _swear_!" I giggled. How was it possible to open up so much to someone I barely knew? _

"_Well, a very happy birthday to you, then. Any good presents?"_

"_Er…" I started. _No_. Daniel would rather jump off the Brooklyn Bridge before he gave me any presents. But Austin didn't wait for an answer. He stood up, brushing sand off of himself and offered me a hand. _

"_Where are we going?" I asked confusedly. He pulled me off the ground._

"_Why waste your time with that cake, when we'll get you a real one?" _

_---------------_

I wouldn't cry. I wouldn't! But I missed him so much. And even though it hadn't even been twenty-four hours since I last saw him, I felt like I needed to talk to him. I raced to my bed, grabbed some parchment and ink and a quill, and sat down in front of the fire. Slowly, I began to write.

_Dear Austin,_

_How are you? I just arrived her not even twenty minutes ago. I already met some people I don't like… how do I _do _this to myself? Help me mate! I think I'll go mad! You're too far away, you know that? _

_Hey, do you remember that picture we took on the beach last summer? Back when you had short hair? I was looking at it just now. We're so _different_ now. I don't even know what to think. _

_You know, if you were here, we'd probably already have someone's head permanently stuck down the toilet now. I met these two boys that I really think are going to give me a hard time. But I won't let them, right? Our motto? I'll send a good stinger spell their way. HAH! _

_Term starts tomorrow. I better get some sleep. Miss you. _

_Best wishes,_

…_Do I even need to say it? _

I sealed the letter and held it tight. If I wasn't too much mistaken I thought I saw a series of mail delivery owls downstairs in the pub. If I waited until tomorrow, I would forget and have to wait until I reached Hogwarts. Austin couldn't wait until Hogwarts. It had to be sent.

I jumped up and slid some shoes on, while racing out my door and down the creaky stairs to the front desk, which doubled as a bar.

And there.

Right _there_.

It was the boy that I argued with earlier. _Black._ What was _he_ doing here?

Black was holding onto a butterbeer, and Tom, the toothless owner was standing behind the bar, rubbing a glass tumbler with a rag. I wondered vaguely if it was the same one that he had been cleaning when I arrived here.

Black sent a roguish wink my way as means of hello when he heard my footsteps. "Hello, again, Miss California. I'm afraid I didn't catch your name earlier," he said in an annoying fashion.

I ignored him. "Hello. I wanted to send a letter. I wonder if I could borrow an owl. And I have money, if there's a fee…" I said to Tom, tuning out Black completely.

Tom held out a hand for my letter, which I cautiously held out. He set the glass down and turned to go back through a door behind the bar, leaving Black and I quite alone…

I refused to look at him. He broke the silence. "So, who's the letter to?"

"It's none of your business," I snapped.

But Black carried on as if I hadn't spoken. "Mum? Dad? Sick aunt Helen?" I whirled on him incredulously. I'd never met anyone so… _nosy_! He was grinning at me over the top of his butterbeer.

"Do you need an answer to ever bloody thing? God, stay out of my business, already!" I turned my back on him, waiting for Tom.

"Why are you so rude?" Black piped up behind me. "You don't even _know_ me! And I'm trying to be nice-!"

"Nice, _yeah_. Right," I snorted.

Black opened his mouth to retort but stopped short when Tom turned up, appearing in the doorway and retrieving his glass.

I raised an eyebrow. "All set," he smiled, reminding me strongly of his portrait above my dresser. "The fee will be charged to your room."

"Thank you." I turned to go, but Black called out to me.

"I never got your name," he said, pretending to pout. I rolled my eyes at him.

"You won't be needing it," I said shortly, then turned on my heel and marched up to my room once again.

…

I _knew_ I didn't like that guy! He was just- ugg! That's all that summed it up. So now I had two wonderful people to look foreword to at Hogwarts. Natalie… and Something Black. I never did get his first name.

At least my final year at Hogwarts would be one that's Natalie-free.

Then there was this Lily girl. She was so good-hearted and kind to me, something I've been deprived of for so long, I had no idea how to react. So, I guess I totally pushed her away. Oh well, it was only my first day anyway. Right.

Sighing, I turned to my chair and wrung the wet cloth Lily left earlier over my collarbone. It started stinging immediately. Fabulous.

The very next moment Natalie burst in with a red face and a grim smile. I jumped at her abruptness.

"James apologized for knocking into you earlier, you know. And if you wouldn't have been so aloof as to just leave, you could have heard him say it. And I think Sirius is in love with me." She happily smiled and plopped down on my –_my_- bed.

"Number one. I don't know who these people are, nor do I care. Number two. Get out." I was in no mood for this now. Get me avery strong coffeeand a seven-hour sleep and maybe I could handle it, but not now.

Natalie ignored this. "James is the one with the brown hair. Sirius' is black and… in love with me." She smoothed out a wrinkle on my duvet.

"His hair is in _love with you_? You're mad. Get out." I turned away hiding my washcloth from view.

She chuckled nastily, pulling her sweater tighter. "I wouldn't be so sure." Natalie stood up. "You're just jealous." There was a dramatic pause. "Night loser."

The door slammed in her wake. God, she _was_ right. I was jealous. Only it wasn't because of who she was, but what she had. A family, who at least didn't cringe at the sight of her. That was something. But I would never let _her_ know that.

I flipped the washcloth over, and it stung all over again.

But that's okay. Pain was good. Pain made life real.

:-------:

An owl hooted in my ear and I nearly dropped all of my possessions.

In fact, it was a miracle I could hear the owl at all. I was in a noisy, and extremely busy station. Having just stepped out of a solid brick wall, I made my way to the enormous scarlet steam train, which was billowing clouds of puffy gray steam over the heads and screeches of those around me.

Natalie was behind me, kissing her mother and father goodbye. I winded through the place without a glance backwards.

Someone called my name, but I stubbornly refused to turn.

Was my trunk heavy or what? I was loaded down with books, potions ingredients, cauldrons and who knows what else. I had brought everything I owned, which, sadly, wasn't very much.

As I passed, heads turned to stare. At me. Wait. _Me_? What did _I_ do this time? Some girls around my age pointed an accusatory finger at me, and bent their heads together to exchange nasty insults.

My blood boiled. _How_ many times I had experienced that, I lost count. Stupid, blundering, preppy gits.

A little ways away, a woman with a long red coat was saying goodbye to a girl my age. I thought it was her daughter. They had the same messily curled light brown hair and prominent cheekbones. The woman turned to a little boy who was clinging to her arm and screaming his head off. Slowly, as if subconsciously, she drew out a wand and preformed a jinx that silenced the boy at once. This seemed to make him cry even harder.

I watched in fascination as she wrapped a tired arm around the girl, and kissed her cheek. The girl smiled and waved, turning on her heel and disappearing into the train.

I blinked, and turned my attention elsewhere. The large steel clock on the platform wall told me it was ten forty-five. I had exactly fifteen minutes.

I seized my oak and rosewood trunk, discarded my cart completely, and stuffed it unceremoniously in one of the compartments under the train. With a last look around the station, I retreated into the Hogwarts Express, hoping, wishing, that wherever it took me, would be better than here.

But I knew better would be waiting there, somewhere. How I knew, don't bother to ask. But I was starting a new life. A brand new canvas, only there for me to paint my life on. I didn't care. All my yesterdays were gone.

Gone, far, far away.

…I think.

**:-------:**

**Yay! Reviews make me happy and I update more...! **

**Trin**


End file.
